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Billionaire Boys Club (clothing retailer)

Billionaire Boys Club and Ice Cream is an American and Japanese clothing retailer featuring two lines of clothing established by Pharrell Williams and Nigo, founder of clothing label BAPE. The lines consist of T-shirts, polos, sweatshirts, knits, denim, suits and shirts; outerwear in leather, down, cotton, and technical fabrics; hats, sneakers, underwear, socks and accessories. The items are produced in very limited quantities and are usually sold for high prices.[1]

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In 2005, Pharrell Williams, one half of The Neptunes partnered with Japan's fashion icon Nigo, the founder of A Bathing Ape (BAPE). The two collaborated to create and launch two new premium streetwear brands: Billionaire Boys Club and Ice Cream. The brand suffered many setbacks after its original conception due to disputes between Williams and Reebok. Reebok was originally set to release the clothing line alongside the Ice Cream sneaker line. Although the sneakers made it, the clothing line was postponed and all projects came to an end in late 2004/early 2005. It was at the very end of 2005 when the brand was finally launched as a partner company to A Bathing Ape.[2]

In August 2011 news surfaced that rapper Jay-Z, a frequent collaborator of Pharrell and known to wear BBC himself, would be partnering with the Billionaire Boys Club line.[3] Later it was revealed that the rapper, through a joint-venture with Iconix, had invested in the brand. The following year BBC did record high $25 million to $30 million in volume, up from $12 million.[4] Pharrell reacquired Iconix's stake in the business in 2017.[5]

Billionaire Boys Club originally was exclusively manufactured in Japan, however in recent seasons the clothing has been made in Canada, Mexico, Korea, and Turkey.

Billionaire Boys Club has a US flagship store in SoHo, New York City, a European flagship store in Soho, London, and a store in Tokyo, Japan. Several stores that retail Billionaire Boys Club and Ice Cream clothing exist across North America, the United Kingdom and Europe, as well as Asia and the Middle East.